"Dreaming of Jianghu 2 (Dreaming of Jianghu 2)?"

This familiar yet unfamiliar term immediately made Vivian (Vivian Wei) shift her gaze from the computer to Nai Shawn (Shawn Nai) and blurt out, "Is Dreaming of Jianghu coming out with a sequel?!"

How come she had never heard of this news before, and to see the character designs for Dreaming of Jianghu 2 on the computer of the great master, what does this imply?

"Did you make this game?" She asked without thinking, but quickly denied it herself, "No, I remember Dreaming of Jianghu was produced by FenTech (WindTale)."

"Dreaming of Jianghu was indeed produced by WindTale, but Dreaming of Jianghu 2 will be co-developed by us and WindTale."

His tone and expression were both calm, as if he didn't think he was revealing an astonishing piece of news. Vivian was stunned for a while before she could digest it, "It seems like I've never heard about a sequel to Dreaming of Jianghu."

"The news hasn't been announced to the public yet."

Vivian suddenly remembered, "Was the video of the female thief snatching the groom your doing..."

Shawn shook his head, "No, purchasing the video was WindTale's decision. I only found out a day before you did."

Although he was collaborating with WindTale on Dreaming of Jianghu 2, he had nothing to do with Dreaming of Jianghu 1. Dreaming of Jianghu 1 was a martial arts game independently developed and operated by WindTale Technology, a subsidiary of WindTale Group. Since they belonged to different entities, he naturally wouldn't know the decisions made over there. If it weren't for the fact that this decision also involved Dreaming of Jianghu 2, WindTale wouldn't have needed to consult him at all.

If it weren't for considering the funding and his own risk tolerance, Shawn wouldn't have collaborated with WindTale on Dreaming of Jianghu 2. According to the cooperation agreement, WindTale Technology was only responsible for funding and post-operation, while the development was entirely handled by his team. So when WindTale Technology called to say they wanted to add a new form of bride-snatching gameplay in Dreaming of Jianghu 2, Shawn was a bit surprised. When the other party explained that the idea was inspired by the female thief video online, Shawn found it both amusing and exasperating.

After a brief consideration, he agreed to add the new bride-snatching gameplay in Dreaming of Jianghu 2, but he didn't tell WindTale that the character in the video, Smiling Naihe (Laughing Naihe), was actually him.

Of course, WindTale didn't know that Laughing Naihe was him. He registered this ID at the recommendation of his roommate when Dreaming of Jianghu was first released, played for a while, and then stopped. It wasn't until he established a collaboration with WindTale that he re-entered the game to familiarize himself with its predecessor.

While Shawn was simply explaining his relationship with WindTale, he pulled up more character designs for Vivian to see. Vivian focused on them for a while and asked, "What does the new bride-snatching gameplay mean?"

"Simply put, it's like setting a bride-snatching switch. Unmarried players of the opposite sex who turn on the bride-snatching switch can snatch each other."

Vivian quickly caught on, "Like the PK switch in some games?"

"Yes."

It seemed indeed fresh and fun, but wouldn't it be chaotic? Vivian imagined the scene of all the online game players snatching each other and broke into a sweat.

After going through the character designs, Shawn got up to make tea. Vivian, looking at the computer screen, unconsciously took Shawn's mouse and started browsing the character designs again, gradually becoming engrossed, and unknowingly half-sat on Shawn's chair.

When Shawn returned with two cups of tea, he saw this scene, was slightly taken aback, and then smiled. He placed the teacup in his left hand on the bookshelf beside him, leaned against the bookshelf, and sipped his tea.

You stand on the bridge watching the scenery, while the people watching the scenery are upstairs watching you.

Vivian was completely unaware that she had become part of the scenery. After carefully reviewing the character designs again, she looked up at Shawn with sparkling eyes and said, "I like this game."

Shawn leaned against the bookshelf and smiled, "Just from looking at the character designs?"

"No, you can tell a lot from the character designs." Vivian thought for a moment, and although the topic was a bit embarrassing, she still shared her thoughts.

"The online games on the market now, to please male players, have female characters that are barely dressed, some are simply indecent. When I chose the red-clad female warrior character, it was partly because I liked her skills, and partly because she had more clothes. But Dreaming of Jianghu 2 isn't like that; the female characters' clothing is very normal, which at least shows that the game developers respect their game and have confidence in it, without resorting to vulgar tactics to attract attention."

Vivian felt inexplicably happy. In Dreaming of Jianghu 1, the female characters were still quite revealing, though better than other online games on the market. The significant change in Dreaming of Jianghu 2 must be due to the decision of the great master at the core of the development, right? Does this mean the great master respects women?

Shawn didn't expect her to say such a thing, and his heart was moved. Looking at her radiant face, with the faint aroma of tea in the air, a trace of joy unexpectedly crossed the deepest part of his heart.

To make "female character designs not revealing," these words are simple to say, but it took him a lot of effort to achieve it. Coming from a scholarly family, he had his own principles, but using his principles to persuade investors? That's too naive and unrealistic; only the market can persuade the market. So he conducted various surveys to make investors realize the spending power of women in online games, to realize that what attracts male players to a game isn't the exposure of female characters...

But of course, he wouldn't say these things to Vivian. Thousands of words, when it came to Shawn, were always understated. His dark eyes held a gentle glow, reflecting the figure in front of him, and he smiled gracefully, "Thank you for the compliment, I'm honored."

He acted so calmly, yet Vivian strangely felt a slight ripple, as if the great master was in a good mood. Did she accidentally flatter the great master? Vivian was a bit embarrassed and asked Shawn with some anticipation, "When will Dreaming of Jianghu 2 be in beta?"

"The earliest closed beta will be at the end of the year."

By then, getting a beta key shouldn't be a problem. After getting excited on her own for a while, Vivian remembered the main issue, "Since you have a collaboration, will you handle the video matter? Actually, it would be best if you handled it. Although the video was published under my name, it was actually your work."

Shawn refused without a second thought, "Of course not, my name can't appear on the contract."

Vivian was puzzled, "Why?"

Shawn stopped at that, "Copyright fee."

This time, Vivian took a moment to understand—if the great master signed the contract, as the core developer of Dreaming of Jianghu 2, contributing ideas would be expected, and WindTale wouldn't need to pay a copyright fee.

"Alright, then I'll sign it alone, and we'll split the copyright fee among the five of us." Vivian said readily, but why did she suddenly feel like she was scamming money, even though it was legal income?

"No need to share with George Yu (Yu Gong) and the others." Shawn said leisurely, looking at the tea leaves floating in his cup.

"Huh?" That doesn't seem right, after all, they also have roles.

"You keep it, consider it a meeting gift from them."

A meeting gift...

Vivian was speechless, staring at him. She was about to ask what about his share, but now she couldn't bring herself to ask. What if he said... as a betrothal gift?

The earlier conversation had been focused on online games, so Vivian hadn't felt anything. Now that she wasn't responding, the room suddenly became quiet, and Vivian suddenly realized she was using the great master's mouse, on the great master's computer, sitting in the great master's chair?!

When did this happen!

Slowly, she withdrew her hand from the great master's mouse, this magical object, and awkwardly avoided looking at the great master's face. Just now, she was wondering why he was standing there... turns out he had no home to return to.

The office was quiet, and Shawn seemed intent on making her more embarrassed, not speaking or moving, leisurely drinking his tea, his long fingers occasionally brushing the cup.

Vivian's wandering gaze was drawn to his actions, watching his fingers without blinking. Just now, she was too focused on talking to notice, but it seemed like he was holding...

This time, she couldn't care about the embarrassment. Curious, Vivian stood up, walked to his side, and looked down at the teacup in his hand. Shawn smiled and simply handed her the teacup.

Vivian took it, holding it in her palm to admire it closely. It was a white porcelain teacup with a very classical curve, the body delicate and translucent, holding light green tea, appearing cute and exquisite. But what attracted Vivian wasn't its beauty, but the pattern on the cup—a few clusters of green bamboo, with a white-clad musician sitting in front of the bamboo, playing the zither.

"Dreaming of Jianghu limited edition cup set?" Vivian exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, and this one is yours."

Another tea-scented cup was gently placed in her hand, still with a white body, but this cup had a red-clad female warrior wielding a sword painted on it.

"Are there any others?" Dreaming of Jianghu has thirty-six characters, so a set should have thirty-six cups, right?

"WindTale sent us a set, I only took these two, the others are with Yu Gong and the others."

Only took these two?

Originally holding the cup and looking at it from all angles, Vivian's actions paused for a moment. She looked up at his handsome face, so close, and after a moment, her long eyelashes lowered again, covering her eyes that were sparkling with light.

So, was this cup prepared for her? Did he anticipate that one day she would come to his office?

Vivian continued to look at the cup, but her actions unconsciously slowed down, every move seemed so absent-minded. Finally, without any mental preparation, Vivian gently asked, "Shawn, how did you recognize me yesterday?"

The words "Shawn" came out of her mouth for the first time, as if they carried magic. Even someone as composed as Shawn had a moment of distraction.

However, when he quickly regained his composure and answered, the distraction immediately shifted to Vivian.

"Not yesterday." Gently taking the white-clad musician's cup from her hand, Shawn said, "It was in March, at Ultimate (Ultimate)."

March? Ultimate? A place called Ultimate...

"An internet cafe?!" Vivian was shocked.

"Yes, I happened to have something to do there that day, and as I was leaving, I saw you in a guild battle."

Vivian was completely stunned. She had thought of many reasons why the great master would recognize her—her voice, checking IP, checking website data—all of which wouldn't be difficult for the great master. However, it was at an internet cafe? And so early, in March?

She remembered she did go to an internet cafe once in March. Because the dormitory broadband was down, she went to inform the guild that she wouldn't be able to log in for a while and participated in the guild battle that day.

So early, the great master already knew her?

"Your operation was beautiful, your hand speed was fast."

Shawn's gaze rested on Vivian's hands. It was these hands that, in the noisy internet cafe, first caught his attention.

Hand speed... Vivian's mind was in a mess, and for a moment, she could only follow his words dumbly, "I played SC for a while during the summer vacation of my senior year in high school, that's how I practiced. Actually, my APM isn't high, not even 150."

"APM is just a reference data."

Vivian nodded. Compared to APM, effective operation rate might be more crucial. Although she agreed with him, Vivian couldn't help but ask, "Then what's your APM?"

Would it reach the extreme numbers? Like a crazy 400...

"I've never tested it. When I played, there wasn't even the concept of APM."

No concept of APM, how many years ago was that? Vivian imagined it and suddenly felt the blood in her veins surging. The great master must look super cool when playing games.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, so Vivian reflexively suggested, her eyes shining brightly at him, "How about we have a duel sometime?"

What kind of topic direction is this? Shawn raised an eyebrow slightly, glanced at her with a smile, "Sure, but please," he paused for a moment before continuing, "...go easy on me."

He clearly didn't say anything, but Vivian's face turned red. Why did she feel like he wanted to say "my lady" at the pause?

Embarrassed.

She must be possessed today, thinking of strange things, first betrothal gifts, now my lady, if this continues, she might think of even stranger things, uh...

"Um... I'll go read."

Without waiting for Shawn to respond, Vivian quickly sat back on the sofa with the cup, picked up a book, and pretended to read seriously.

Afternoon tea time ended.

Vivian did manage to focus on reading a few pages, but soon, she was distracted again. She remembered she still had a question to ask—

Since he knew her so early, why didn't he say anything in the game?

Vivian unconsciously fell into thought, completely unaware that her gaze had shifted from the book to the person behind the desk.

The office remained quiet, with only the soft sound of typing on the keyboard. However, gradually, even the typing stopped. Shawn suddenly paused, not looking up, and said, "Vivian, if you keep looking, I might not be able to handle it."

Because she was absent-minded, Vivian heard his voice but didn't immediately understand his meaning. It took a while before she realized, and then...

Alright, Vivian was about to combust. She didn't want to ask anything anymore.

The entire afternoon, Vivian spent in such low efficiency. Dinner was casually eaten near the great master's office building, and Vivian was worried they might go for fish head soup, but fortunately, the great master wasn't that inhumane.

Considering she hadn't read much in the afternoon, Vivian had the urge to slip back to the dormitory after dinner. However, this impulse was killed by one sentence from the great master.

The great master said, "Do you want to PK with me?"

So, Vivian obediently followed him back to the company, each with a computer, and started PKing~~~ Unfortunately, from Dreaming of Jianghu to SC, Vivian lost miserably in every match. By the end, she was a bit resentful. Aren't boyfriends supposed to let their girlfriends win? Why is hers so ruthless, not even batting an eye while defeating her?

Of course, hoping the great master would go easy on her was a shameful thought, so Vivian habitually pushed it back into the depths of her mind.

Due to Vivian's repeated defeats and battles, it wasn't until nine o'clock that Shawn sent her back.

The whole day, Vivian was incredibly busy, picking up people and PKing with the great master, but she suddenly felt like she had found the feeling she used to have in online games, suddenly feeling that the great master was so approachable...